Jessica Jones season 2 episode 4 review: AKA God Help the Hobo

Jessica Jones has always assumed her anger and her powers were separate entities. Now, after the events of AKA God Help the Hobo, she isn’t so sure.

Jessica Jones has a lot to be angry about. As she reluctantly shares in her court-mandated anger management class, she lost her entire family as a young woman, was subjected to experiments without her consent, raped, controlled and coerced into killing someone. “And now some maniac says that I am here for a reason,” she concludes, throwing the group’s rubber ball so hard it shatters. Yep, shatters.

Jessica’s anger is justified, but it’s beginning to scare here. And in season 2’s fourth outing, she’s wondering if it’s caused by trauma or by IGH’s experiments.

The more Jessica learns about Fake Dr. Hansen, the more she’s worried that her powers are the real source of her anger. Turns out the mysterious villain has double Jess’ strength and, according to yet another IGH victim, she is fueled by primal, animalistic rage. As much as Trish tries to convince her otherwise, Jessica is afraid that she will end up just like Fake Dr. Hansen: a monster. At this point Jess experiences (mostly) righteous anger — but what if it just keeps getting worse? What if her fury consumes her entirely?

“That’s not me,” Jess repeats as she gets arrested for a murder Fake Dr. Hansen committed. But her voice doesn’t carry much conviction.

Jessica isn’t Fake Doc, at least not yet. For all of her orneriness, she is capable of remarkable compassion. She is fond of Vido, would do anything to protect Trish and other victims of sexual abuse, and occasionally doles out second chances. She definitely doesn’t suffer fools gladly, but as she confesses to Oscar after they make peace, she doesn’t actually hate people.

Once again Jessica Jones makes some interesting connections between Jessica and Jeri in AKA God Help the Hobo. As Jessica contemplates the possibility that her anger is a byproduct of IGH’s treatment — something that is inside her, something biological — Jeri just becomes more resolved to defeat her ALS by any means necessary. Like Jessica, she encounters someone who may as well be a future version of herself. In Jeri’s case, it’s an older woman on crutches who stumbles on the sidewalk. It terrifies her just as much as Fake Dr. Hansen’s handiwork frightens Jess.

“There is a killer inside of me and I will not give it control,” Jeri tells her doctor. When the doc refuses to help her get as-yet unapproved drugs, Jeri orders them on her own. I stand by my prediction from AKA Sole Survivor: Jeri is going to make some sort of Faustian deal with IGH to save her health.

It looks like Trish is susceptible to IGH’s machinations, too. This is understandable: she’s feeling powerless, and has for most of her life. Still annoyed at Jessica for giving the paparazzi a fake tip about her and Griffin last episode, Trish makes Jess promise never to pull a stunt like it again, not just selling out Trish’s privacy — which her mother did repeatedly when Trish was a kid — but “benching” her just because she doesn’t share Jessica’s abilities. Jess promises, but it’s not enough for her foster-sister.

When the two go looking for Fake Dr. Hansen, Trish is so desperate to prove herself useful — and, let’s remember, has a history with drugs and booze — she uses Simpson’s IGH inhaler. It gives her strength, speed, and confidence, but it also makes her jumpy, impulsive and confrontational. And I’m sure it causes one doozy of a  hangover.

Next: Jessica Jones S2E3 recap: AKA Sole Survivor

Misc.

• The episode opens with Jess sweating in anger management and musing about NYC in summer, so why is she dressed for a 50-degree day? I get that Jessica Jones is not a sundress or flip-flops girl, but given her partiality to jeans, she must have some cut-offs tucked away somewhere.
• Jessica’s line when she’s threatening Max the Perv Director — “[You think] that you can take whatever and whoever you want” — feels straight out of Good Girls.
• The anger management wasn’t a complete waste of time: later on Jessica does the rubber ball exercise alone in her apartment.
• I called it: things between Jess and Oscar heat up in AKA God Help the Hobo. The ep even pulled a fake-out and cut from Jessica inviting Oscar inside to Trish and Griffin having sex.
• Speaking of Griffin, he’s still around and up to something nefarious. I guess he’s not exempt from Trish’s “parade of losers” after all.
• Yay, Malcolm finally stands up for himself! After Pryce tries to poach him from Alias, Malcolm demands Jess give him more opportunities, respect and money — and it works! Hopefully he’ll actually have stuff to do by the next episode.
• This time in Jessica Jones‘ Marvel references:
  • Vido is curious about Jessica’s powers and alludes to Luke Cage (“Are you bulletproof?”).
  • He also references — I’m not a Marvel fangirl but I’ll take a stab at it — the Guardians of the Galaxy and/or Thor (“Are you an alien?”) and Iron Man (“Can you fly?”).